


Just So We’re Clear

by TelekineticIssue



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, but with feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28225758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TelekineticIssue/pseuds/TelekineticIssue
Summary: Lin needs a date to a political function to spite someone and the only person she’s comfortable asking also happens to be one of her only friends...and friend with benefits.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 8
Kudos: 146
Collections: 2020 KyaLin Solstice Exchange





	Just So We’re Clear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleazyjanet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleazyjanet/gifts).



> For the Kyalin Solstice Swap 2020

Kya could count on maybe one hand the amount of times Lin had asked her to stay the night.

One, some few weeks after Tenzin had dumped her and she was caught up in a storm of emotion. Kya had gladly curled closer, held her as she tried to pretend she wasn’t crying, didn’t acknowledge it after out of respect for Lin’s pride.

Two, when they’d bumped into each other at the opening of a new bar. Lin hadn’t even known Kya was in Republic City until she quite literally ran into her. Kya hadn’t been able to keep her hands to herself, but Lin seemed all right with that.

Three, after being promoted to Chief. There were happy (at least, at the time, she’d assumed they were happy) tears this time, and Lin hadn’t seemed all that in a hurry for once.

Four was fuzzy. Kya wasn’t entirely sure how she’d ended up back in Lin’s apartment or what they’d gotten up to that night, only that she’d been sore as shit when she finally felt ready to open her eyes and Lin hadn’t been in much better shape.

And now five, apparently, though Lin had refused to explain why she wanted Kya to stay. As frustrating as Kya found that, she was all right with luxuriating in the comfort of Lin’s bed after...well, she counted it as perhaps one of the best nights they’d spent together. Certainly top three.

“So why am I still here, again?” Kya said aloud into the light of possibly seven, seven thirty, when she knew Lin was awake and pretending not to be. The younger woman groaned, rolling over and burying her face into one of the many pillows strewn across her bed. She’d never quite given up the habit of cuddling one or three in her sleep if there wasn’t someone else in the bed. Kya couldn’t resist the desire to run her fingers through Lin’s hair, the glossy black becoming increasingly shot through with a gorgeous gunmetal gray as the years passed. Lin hummed as her nails scritched across her scalp.

“Keep doing that and I’ll just fall asleep again and not have to answer to you.”

Kya changed tactics and instead tugged slightly, pulling a gasp from Lin. She propped herself up on her elbows and shot an affronted look at Kya. The glare was so akin to a cat who’d been rudely awoken from a nap that Kya couldn’t hold back a snicker.

“Keep making fun of me, why don’t you,” Lin grumbled, flopping back down. “Why do you want to know so bad? Have another hot date lined up for tonight?”

“I like to keep my options open.”

Lin made a sound of frustration, unable to meet her eyes. “What if I asked you to stay tonight, too?”

“In what capacity?”

“I may have implied I had a partner to bring to a function to get a politician off my back,” Lin admitted, biting her lip and looking worried. “I know it’s sudden and we’re not, that that’s not something either of us want, but…”

 _When we started, but what about now?_ Kya bit back the question, recognizing the futility in it. There were many things she wanted to ask of Lin, and that particular one could wait until much later, even if it killed her.

“You just have to pretend to be my girlfriend for the night,” Lin continued, looking increasingly desperate as if she expected Kya to up and leave at her request. “But I understand if you don’t...if that’s not...I get it.”

“When?” Kya asked, surprising Lin enough that her generally controlled expression actually let through some of her shock. Kya found it extremely endearing, though she squashed down the sappy feeling that rose in her chest.

“Er, tonight, I already said.”

Kya laughed at herself. “Right, yes, you did. What are you wearing? It’s a political gala, right?”

“Yes. I hadn’t really decided yet.”

Kya thought for a moment. “You know that deliciously sexy suit you have? The black one with the green? I think that would work perfectly.”

“You just want to look at my ass in it, don’t you?”

“That might be a motivating factor, yes.”

Lin rolled her eyes at Kya’s smirk. “You’re insatiable.”

“Then I’ll wear green too,” Kya said, ignoring her, “I think if we’re going together we might as well look like the hottest couple in the room.”

“But, to be clear, we’re not a couple.” Lin pulled away from Kya’s embrace to sprawl back out on her side of the bed. Any irritation she might have felt at the internal acknowledgment that she considered part of her bed Kya’s disappeared when the older woman reached out to tilt her face back toward her. Kya’s smile was soft, the kind of thing she reserved for when she knew Lin needed it, and her thumb brushed over the bit of unmarred skin between her scars with all the gentleness in the world.

“Of course.”

Lin allowed her one kiss before nudging her out of the bed and standing to stretch. “Breakfast?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Egg pancakes?” Kya asked hopefully.

Lin nodded. “I can handle that.”

…

“Please remind me why I put up with this nonsense,” Lin grumbled as she peered into her mirror, triple checking that her hair was in fact pinned evenly and fussing with some minute imperfection. Kya touched her shoulder, breaking her concentration. The older woman gestured to her back, only half-zipped.

“A hand, please?”

Lin zipped up the dress with a bit of a frown as the expanse of Kya’s back disappeared beneath the rich green fabric. She remembered this dress, having picked it out some years ago for a holiday gift and Kya’s utter delight and comment that it matched so nicely with Lin’s eyes. Lin couldn’t quite remember if she’d hidden her blush well enough.

“And you put up with it because it’s your job, and you know you’re going to get laid again tonight if you behave,” Kya added, turning around and resting her arms over Lin’s shoulders in a casual, comfortable motion.

“If I behave?” Lin almost laughed at the notion. “Maybe I won’t bring you home again after all.”

Kya quirked an eyebrow before leaning closer and letting her lips brush over Lin’s ear, relishing in the shiver it caused.

“You don’t have a choice, Beifong.” She stepped away, demeanor instantly dropping into something far more casual, a teasing grin spreading across her face. “Now, are we going to be late, or are you finished playing with your hair?”

“It’s done, I’m ready,” Lin said, defeated, a hint of scarlet in her cheeks. “I’ll go get the car started if you’ll lock up?”

“Sure.”

The drive was uneventful save for a spot of traffic that Lin growled at, and she seemed pleased to finally pass her keys off to the valet when she and Kya arrived at City Hall. Belatedly, she remembered to hold out an arm for Kya, and the older woman chuckled at her sudden stiff posture.

“Lin, relax. It’s not like we haven’t been to parties together.”

Lin’s jaw tightened. “I’m fine.” She was not, in fact, fine. Every second that passed had her wanting to sink further into the ground.

Naturally, they lasted about six minutes before Kya was greeting someone she somehow knew and Lin was fielding polite yet thinly veiled judgmental questions about her date. She groaned internally, knowing she would once again end up in the gossip columns of the newspaper, if not even an article, for this. It wasn’t the first time the papers had speculated about her sexuality, though part of her bristled at the fact that now Kya would be dragged into it too. Perhaps it had been a mistake to ask Kya to accompany her; perhaps it would have been better to simply suck it up and deal with the minor fallout of rejecting the man who had so doggedly attempted to secure her spot by his side.

And, speak of the devil…

“Ambassador Ryo,” Lin said through clenched teeth, forcing a smile, “How wonderful to see you.”

The Fire Nation politician bowed, looking her over with something sharp in his eye that Lin didn’t like. “Likewise, Chief Beifong. I had expected to see you with someone, though, as per our last conversation?”

Lin decided then that she wasn’t in the mood to play games, no matter how civil she’d promised herself she’d be. She opened her mouth to fire back a similar retort, but was cut off by an arm looping through her own and a cocktail being placed in her hand.

“There you are, Lin. I picked you up a drink.” Kya beamed at her, and Lin felt her heart trip a bit. “Glad I found you; there are just so many people here! I don’t know how you keep up with all of this. I think I might have even seen my little brother, too.”

“Ah,” Lin fumbled. “Wonder if we’ll run into him.” Kya laughed, the unsaid implications of Tenzin finally finding out about their arrangement (or what it looked to be, in any case) a fair way to tease him.

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss...?” The ambassador looked rather put out, his eyes flicking between the two women as if he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to acknowledge what he thought he saw. Lin knew she should be professional, but the frustration of dealing with a week’s worth of increasingly aggressive attempts to ask her out finally boiled over.

“This is my girlfriend, Kya,” Lin said, delighting in the way the ambassador twitched uncomfortably at the word ‘girlfriend.’ “She just got back from volunteering her healing skills in the Earth Kingdom, isn’t that wonderful?”

“Oh, quite,” Ryo said. He now had the distinct look of someone wanting to be quite literally anywhere but where he was standing, trapped by social expectations.

“But there’s nothing quite like returning home to a bed with someone you love, hmm?” Kya added. Lin didn’t have to look at her to know she was barely keeping a handle on her amusement. The cherry on top was when she pressed a kiss to Lin’s cheek, and the ambassador finally broke.

“It was nice meeting you, but I must speak with—yes, well—have a good evening, Chief Beifong.”

“Pathetic swine,” Lin growled under her breath as he scurried away. Kya hummed in agreement and stole her drink back. Lin made a sound of mock annoyance. “I might have been planning to drink that, you know.”

“It’s soju.”

Lin’s lip curled in distaste. “Never mind.”

Continuing to make small talk with politicians she barely knew off paper began to grate on Lin, and at some point she realized she was letting Kya steer most of the conversations. It was easy to listen to her talk, years of travel and activism lending an authority to her voice that matched her surprisingly evenly with all but the most aggressive attendees. Kya played her part well, dropping honeyed compliments about “her” Chief Beifong and what excellent work she was doing in Republic City, keeping it safe while she was off across the world running vaccine drives or other volunteer work. Lin found it embarrassingly easy to act the role of flattered girlfriend when she spoke like that, and as the night wore on she found more than one acquaintance expressed surprise at the fact that she seemed whipped. Kya was quick to lay those claims to rest with a wink, and Lin certainly wasn’t going to argue. She still had a reputation to keep, after all.

“Well, I think that’s everyone I had plans to speak to to avoid offending anyone,” Lin said quietly after disengaging from yet more dull chatter. “I’m quite ready to leave if you are?”

“I think this has been fun, but yes.” Rather than respond, Lin made a thoroughly unenthused sound. Kya rubbed her arm comfortingly. “Is this really that awful, Lin?”

“No, it’s actually far more tolerable with you here.” Kya shook her head, and Lin unthinkingly placed a hand on her cheek to guide Kya’s eyes back to her. “Really. I’m glad you agreed to come. It was worth the awkward questions for the looks on some faces.”

“Even if the press is going to have a field day with us?”

“Like they haven’t any other time,” Lin said, and Kya shrugged in agreement. Being the children of such high-profile parents and making names for themselves outside of that legacy (or as outside of it as they could get) certainly had its drawbacks.

“Oh, we have one other guest to speak to,” Kya said, pulling Lin’s arm to stop her from marching toward the door. “Tenzin.”

“I’m not in the mood to speak with His Holy Baldness.” Lin’s eyebrows scrunched together and Kya stifled a giggle. An exasperated sigh to her right had Lin paling, and she turned to find herself face to face with Tenzin himself. “Ah. Shit.”

“Now I feel bad about wanting to at least say hello,” he said sheepishly, one hand coming up to rub the back of his head. Lin remembered the habit from when they were kids and pushed aside whatever that might have made her feel.

“Should have done that before I got fed up with politicians,” Lin said, scowling. “I’m sure I don’t have to introduce my date, then?”

“I’m surprised you brought one. Not that it bothers me!” Tenzin added quickly. “I’m glad you two are...regardless, it’s none of my business.”

“We’re not-“ Lin started as Kya snorted and said, “I’m not quite ready to bring Lin home yet.”

Tenzin glanced between the two, for once picking up on the silent communication in the twin looks of surprise they sent each other. “Right. If you were leaving, then I won’t hold you up. Kya, I wasn’t aware you were even in the city; are you planning on staying at the temple?”

“Not this time; I’m bunking with a friend.” Kya begged him with a look to not say anything; unsure what to do with his assumptions, Tenzin merely nodded.

“I suppose I’ll be seeing you on Council business, Lin.”

“Likewise.”

Lin let out a sharp exhale when she was finally back in the driver’s seat of her Satomobile and loosened her tie. Kya reached over to place a mollifying hand on her thigh.

“You did good, Lin.”

“It’s just business,” Lin muttered, putting the vehicle in gear and merging into the closest lane to swing around the block to head back home. Traffic was lighter than usual given the time of night, something she appreciated as she hated driving in the dark.

“I’m serious. You could have bitten off at least four heads and you didn’t.”

“Maybe I had to keep up an aura of someone who could conceivably have a girlfriend.”

Kya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I’ll take that, then.”

When they pulled into her parking space and Lin killed the engine, Kya took the opportunity to pull Lin close and kiss her, thumb tracing her jawline. “So, am I still your fake girlfriend?”

“When we get upstairs and I get that dress off you, you can be whatever you like,” Lin said, glancing her up and down however much she could while leaned halfway across her own car. Kya got the feeling she had been planning that line all evening and was pleased to have been able to use it.

Kya did roll her eyes then, laughter getting the better of her. She popped open the door and stepped out, glancing back over her shoulder. “I can live with that. Come on, then, don’t keep a girl waiting.”

Lin practically fell out of the car in her haste to follow, and while she might have fumbled the keys to her apartment door, her hands were as steady and perfect as ever when they finally landed where they wanted.


End file.
